Surgical instrument for circumcisions



June 17, 1930. J. W. WILLIAMS 1,765,319

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT FOR CIRCUMGISIONS Filed Nov. 16, 1929 IN VENTOI? a n k4 ATTORNEY Patented June 17, 1930 UNITED STATES JOHN W. WILLIAMS, TAMPA, FLORIDA SURGICAL INSTRUMENT FOR GIRCUMCISIONS Application filed November 16, 1829. Serial No. 407,745.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883, AS AMENDED APRIL 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) This invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a surgical instrument and more particularly to an improve-.

ment in clamps especially adapted for use in the operation of circumcision wherein the prepuce is spread apart and firmly held in place by means of suturing needles to allow the pre- 0 puce to be severed and stitched during one operation without the necessity of trimming.

The invention has for its general object to provide a surgical instrument which may be secured in position during the entire operation, thus expediting labor of the surgeon and shortening the period of pain and inconvenience of the patient caused by the opera tion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical instrument wherein the prepuce is held in position for operation in such a manner that there will be no appreciable loss of blood by the severing of the prepuce.

A further object of the invention is to provide an instrument which is so constructed that the parts thereof admit of thorough sterilization and cleaning, thus insuring against infection of the wound caused by the severing of the prepuce.

A still further object of the inventlon is to provide a surgical operating clamp for circumcision with a housing for the operating ends of the clamp, the said housing containing a groove for facilitating the cutting of the prepuce.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a circumcising clamp which is comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to operate, rapid in action, efiicient and durable in service and a general improvement in the art.

In the usual type of circumcision clamps now employed the prepuce is clamped thus necessitating further trimming of the prepuce after it has been severed. The clamps now employed do not admit of thorough sterilization and cleaning, and are complicated resulting in costly manufacture, difliculty of operation, unnecessary labor and time of the surgeon in performing the operation and i great loss of blood, pain and inconvenience of the patient.

It istherefore the aim and purpose of this nvention to provide an improved circumcising device which is simple, cheap to construct, easy to operate, and with its operating parts capable of thorough sterilization and cleaning, and which will reduce the labor and loss of t me of the surgeon in performing the operation.

With the above and other objects and advantages 1n view the invention preferably consists in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing; it being understood however, that various changes in form and proportion and other details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Referring more particularly now to the accompanying drawing in which corresponding parts are indicated by similar reference characters, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the invencEOII;

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional View of the clamp in operative position;

F ig. 3 is a modified form of my invention in operative position;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on line 55 of Figs. 2 and 3.

In the ilustrative embodiment of this invention as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, 1 indicates a combined clamping and suturing device comprising a pair of main link members 2 and 3 pivotably secured together at 4 by means of a rivet or like fastening 5. The link members 2 and 3 have handle portions 6 and 7 at one end and distending jaw portions 8 and 9 at the other end. The handle portions 6 and 7 are provided with looped ends 10 for receiving the digits of the hand after the fashion of a pair of shears.

Secured to the handle portions 6 and 7 are corrugated. 01 otherwise indented surfaces 11 which frictionally cooperate with each other to hold the link members 2 and 3 and hence the clamp 1 in adjusted position. Each of the jaw portions 8 and 9 has a semi-circular section 12 which is secured to its corresponding jaw portion by means of screws or other like fastenings 13. These com lementary semicircular sections 12 taper rom the point of maximum cross section at their outer ends 14 down to the point of minimum cross section at their inner ends 15 where they are attached to the outer ends 16 of the jaw portions 8 and 9. The complementary semi-circular sections 12 provide suitable spacing means to accomrTod'ate the penis 17 On the outer extreme periferies of the ends 14 of the semi-circular sections 12 are detachably mounted threadable suturing needles 18 at suitable spaced intervals. Surrounding the jaw portions 8 and 9 and semi-circular sections 12 is a sheath or housing 19 of a general frusto conical shape. This housing 19 is secured at its smaller end 20 to the common pivot 4 by the rivet 5. In order to secure the sheath 19 and link members 2 and 3 in relatively fixed position spacing members in the form of small metallic tubes 21 as shown in Fig. 5 are interposed between the contiguous link members 2 and 3 and the inner surface 22 of the sheath 19. The ends 23 of rivet 5 are suitably swaged or otherwise Worked to permanently fix or secure these members together. The outer end 24 of the sheath 19 is fashioned to conform to the outer surface 25 of the semi-circular sections 12. The end 24; of sheath 19 is provided with needle slots 26 which act as guides for the suturing needles 18 on the semi-circular sections 12. Adjacent the outer end 24 0f the sheath 19 is a circumferential groove 27 to guide the cutting knife in the process of severing the prepuce 28. Surrounding the sheath 19 and slidably mounted thereon is a resilient ring 29 for the purpose of overlapping the end of the prepuce 28 and for assisting the needles 18 in holding the prepuce 28 in position while it is being severed.

The modification illustrated in Fig. 3 is similar to that already described but has the jaw portions 8 and 9 integral throughout with the handle portions 6 and 7 respectively. This construction will give a clamping motion to the jaw portions 8 and 9 when a clamping motion is given the handle portions 6 and 7 and vice versa. The jaw portions 8' and 9' are also extended to provide the needle holding portions corresponding to the semi-circular sections 12 in the first described form of this invention. The outer end 24 of the sheath or housing 19 terminates just short of thelocus of the suturing needles 18 rendering the device less costly to manufacture and more sanitary because of the elimination of toxic collection slots.

The resilient locking ring 29, is also used with this instrument, for slidably engaging over the outer end of the prepuce 28, to lock it to the instrument sheath 19.

The mode of using these forms of my invention is similar in both cases, and will appear obvious from the drawing wherein in Figs. 2 and the instruments are shown in distended positlon wish the penis 17 suitably placed within the jaws 8 and 9 or 8 and 9 but not clamped as in ordinary instruments of this class of surgery.

In operation the sheath or housing 19 is gently inserted between the prepuce 28 and the penis 17 before the jaws 8 and 9 or 8 and 9 are oriented to distended position. Prior to this the needles 18 are set in place and threaded. When the physician is satisfied that my new surgical clamp is in proper position he simply causes the jaws 8 and 9 or 8 and 9 with their cooperating threaded needles 18 to advance into the position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 according to which form of my invention he uses.

The suturing threads of the needles 18 are next fixed in place and drawn tightly to bind the portion of the prepuce 28 that is to remain on the penis 17. This is to forestall unnecessary loss of blood as is evident.

Now a cutting blade is quickly drawn circumferentially through the prepuce being guide by being forced into the groove 27 A uniform severance is attained free from agged portions to be later trimmed off. The dorsal slit method is eliminated and an expeditious clean-cut operation is quickl performed safely. No loss of blood is had as the prepuce remaining on the penis is already bound before any capillaries were severed.

It will thus be seen b the above description that the invention broadly comprises a circumcision clamp of the pivoted link type having handle portions and jaw portions, said aw portions being provided with semi-circular members having suturing needles in spaced threaded relation and surrounded by a sheath which is secured to the jaw menibers by a common pivot, said sheath being provlded with a severance groove, and a resil- 1ent ring slidably mounted on said sheath. A clamp comprising pivoted link members hav- 1ng cooperating control members and jaw members having needles, the upper of said control members being integral with the upper of said jaw members is also comprised within the scope of the invention. Now that I have disclosed my invention What I claim as new and useful is:

1. A circumcision clamp of the pivoted link type having handle portions and jaw portions, said aw portions provided with spaced threaded needles.

2. A circumcision clamp of the pivoted link type having handle portions and jaw porprising pivoted j aw members having manual- 1y operable extensions, and a sheath secured to said jaw members by a common pivot, said sheath provided with a severance groove.

5. A surgical clamping instrument comprising pivoted jaw members having manually operable extensions, suturing needles mounted on said jaw members, and a sheath secured to said members by a common pivot, said sheath provided with a severance groove.

6. A surgical clamping instrument com-.

prising pivoted jaw members having manually operable extensions, suturing needles mounted on said jaw-members, a sheath secured to said members by a common pivot, .1

said sheath provided with a severance groove, and a resilient ring slidably mounted on said sheath.

7. A surgical clamp comprising pivoted ,link members having cooperating control members and jaw members having needles, the upper of said control members being integral with the upper of said jaw members.

8. A surgical clamp having needled jaw members to be distended, and means to distend said jaws by'compression of said means.

9. A surgical clamp having needled jaw members to be distended, means to distend said jaws by compression of said means, and a sheath secured to said clamp.

10. A surgical clamp having needled jaw members to be distended, means to distend said jaws by compression of said means, a sheath secured to said clamp, and a resilient ring slidably mounted on said sheath.

11. A surgical clamp having needled jaw members to be distended, means to distend said jaws by compression of said means, a sheath secured to said clamp, a resilient ring slidably mounted on said clamp, and means for securing said jaw members in adjusted distended position.

12. A surgical clamp having suturing needled jaw members to be distended, means to distend said jaws by compression of said means, av sheath secured to said clamp, and

a severance groove provided on said sheath.

13. A surgical clamp comprising articulated jaw members having needles projecting from their external faces.

14. A surgical clamp comprising articulated jaw members having needles projecting from their external faces, and means for manually controlling said members.

15. A surgical clamp comprising articulated jaw members having needles projecting from their external faces, means for manual- 1y controlling said members, and mutual adjustment means for holding said jaw members in adjusted position.

16. A surgical clamp comprising articulated jaw members having needles pro ectmg from their external faces, means for manually controlling said members, mutual adjustment means for holding said members in ad usted position, and a sheath secured to said members.

17. A surgical clamp comprising articulated jaw members having needles ro ectmg from their external faces, means or manually controlling said members, mutual adjustment means for holding said members 1 n adjusted position, and a sheath secured to said members, said sheath terminating short of said needles.

18. A surgical clamp comprising articufrom their external faces, means for manually controlling said members, mutual adjustmentmeans for holding said members in ad usted position, a sheath secured to said members, said sheath having a severancegroove and terminating short of said needlestand a resilient ring slidably mounted on said sheath.

JOHN W. WILLIAMS. 

